The present invention relates in general to fruit processing equipment. More particularly, the present invention provides a seed celler for use on fruit and having two independent drive mechanisms, one for the turning fin that rotates the fruit during the peeling process and one for the seed cell knife. The present invention may be used for pears, apples, honeydew melons, cantaloupe and possibly other fruits.
The prior art includes several seed cell mechanisms. U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,238 is owned by the assignee of this application. This patent teaches a seed celler in which the seed celling knife rotates simultaneously with a turning fin. The turning fin causes the pear to rotate during the peeling operation. Just prior to completion of the peeling process, the '238 patent abruptly stops the rotation of the seed celling knife, but the pear continues to rotate on the turning fin. The rotating pear suddenly impacts the stopped seed cell knife, and the seed cell is severed in one complete revolution of the turning fin. Applicants believe that the invention of this present application will reduce bursting or breakage of pears and other fruit during the seed celling operation to lower levels than that attained by the prior art. Applicants believe that the sudden and abrupt stopping of the seed cell knife and the subsequent severing of the seed cell during only a single revolution of the pear causes occasional bursting or breakage of pears because of the large instantaneous relative motion between the pear and the seed cell knife. The present invention seeks to reduce that breakage or bursting of the pear (or other fruit) by causing a smaller magnitude of instantaneous relative rotational motion between the seed celling knife and the pear itself.
A further disadvantage of U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,238 is the use of a disengageable drive pin as part of an indirect drive mechanism which must be interrupted to abruptly stop the seed cell knife. The present invention utilizes two direct drive trains and avoids the use of the mechanical parts necessary for the indirect drive and disengageable drive pin of U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,238.
The prior art also includes the Harrer U.S. Pat. No. 3,055,408 which required that the pear be brought to a complete standstill after the peeling process was completed and before initiating the seed cell severing process. With the pear stationary on the coring tube, the Harrer patent taught that clamping jaws grasp the outside of the pear to prevent the pear from rotating and then the internally positioned seed cell knife would be caused to rotate, thereby severing the seed cell. The Harrer mechanism took more time than the present invention to peel and seed cell a pear, since the two processes were separate.
Reducing the breakage or bursting of pears and other fruit during the seed celling process is a continuing demand on the part of various canners and food processing companies. For example, a 1% reduction in the amount of pears lost due to breakage or bursting during the seed celling operation of a single pear processing machine is estimated to cost a typical customer over $60,000 per year. In addition to the monetary cost of the lost pears, there are also occasional more serious consequences if the burst or broken pear fouls the pear processing machine as a whole. For example, if a pear is burst or broken near the end of the seed celling operation, it is possible that the remnants of the broken pear will not be successfully ejected and tend to foul the mechanism and cause the loss of further pears until the remnants are removed.
According to the present invention, two separate and independent drive mechanisms are provided, one of which causes rotation of the turning fin and the second causing rotation of the seed celler knife. As the first drive mechanism rotates the turning fin, the pear (or other fruit) is rotated a predetermined number of revolutions while the fruit is being peeled. During this part of the procedure, the seed celling knife is driven at the same rotational speed as the turning fin. At a predetermined part of the peeling cycle, the drive mechanism for the seed celling knife either increases or reduces the rotational speed of the seed celling knife relative to the turning fin and imparts a relatively gradual severing of the seed cell. The relative motion between the two drive mechanisms may be adjusted so that the complete severing of the seed cell may be accomplished over the course of a predetermined number of revolutions of the fruit. For example, the seed cell knife could be driven at a slightly higher rotational speed than the turning fin and programmed to sever the seed cell during the course of four complete revolutions of the pear. By severing the seed cell during the course of four revolutions of the pear, as opposed to severing the seed cell during only a single revolution of the pear, as taught by U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,238, the relative rotation between the pear and the seed celler knife is reduced by a factor of 4. It is believed that the significant reduction of relative rotation between the pear and the seed cell knife will significantly reduce the breakage or bursting of the pear or other fruit during the seed celling operation.
A primary object of the invention is to therefore provide a seed celling apparatus which severs the fruit's seed cell as the fruit is rotated during the peeling process but which severs the seed cell during the course of more than one revolution of the fruit and with less instantaneous relative rotation between the seed celler knife and fruit than the prior art.
A further object of the invention is to provide a fruit seed celling apparatus having a first drive mechanism for rotating the turning fin and a second independent drive mechanism for rotating the seed celler knife and, wherein during the course of peeling the fruit, the seed celler knife is driven at either a faster or lower speed than the turning fin to sever the seed cell.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a seed celling apparatus having two independent stepper motor drives for independently causing the fruit to rotate at a first speed during the peeling process and to cause the seed celler knife to rotate at a different speed to sever the seed cell.
Another object of the invention is to provide two direct drive systems for the turning fin and seed cell knife and to avoid the indirect drive and disengageable pin mechanisms of the prior art.
Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description and drawings wherein: